CJ's New ART88 Preamp


Has anyone had the opportunity to hear Conrad Johnson’s new ART 88 preamp? If you have heard it what do you think about the sound?

 

ddrave44

I just bought one to replace my GATII.  Listening to it as I write this note.  It is only 1 day old and in my experience will require at least 200 hours of break-in before meaningful listening will be instructive.  Right out of the box it sounds warmer than the GAT, but somewhat more restricted.  Smooth and quiet, but so was the GAT.  Amp is a c-j 27A, source at the moment is VPI HW40, SoundSmith Experion, phono stage is also c-j  TEA 1, series III, speakers are Sony SSAR2, subs are REL 212SX.  I will run the pre with my tuner 24/7 for a couple of weeks and then give it a critical listen.  Then write here again if there is interest.

Regards,

Bill

The first thing I heard on mine in the first 20 hours was the separation of instruments with each note seemingly hanging in space. I had broken in a GatS2 before that and this was different. 

It stayed like that pretty much till around the 200 hour mark when the sound filled out and became more dynamic. (I'm using a CJ ART150 stereo amp)

Would like to hear what you experience.   

I swapped the amp just weeks ago, trading my ART150 for the 27A, but had fully adjusted to the amp change using my GAT2 before deciding to order the ART 88.  But it is a lot of change in a relatively short few weeks.  I'll report back after break-in.  These things do need sufficient time for the caps to fully form.  This is my third:  ET5, GAT2 and now ART 88.